Audit that energy use building owners

San Francisco already has some of the nation’s toughest green building standards for new construction. Today Mayor Gavin Newsom introduced legislation aimed at making those buildings already here as eco-friendly as possible.

The legislation submitted to the Board of Supervisors would require the owners of large commercial buildings in the city to conduct an energy efficiency audit every five years and to supply annual updates — all of which would be available in a public database.

The audits would include a list of steps that would improve energy efficiency, like installing solar panels, sealing windows better or replacing outdated boilers, Newsom said. The reports would also include an estimate of energy savings from those steps, the cost of implementing them and their economic value. Property owners would have to supply that information to their tenants.

Newsom likened the audits to fuel efficiency ratings listed on car windows at an auto dealership.

“The same idea would apply to a commercial space,” Newsom said. “As a renter you go, ‘Boy, this is the efficiency standard. This is why I’m going to save money because it’s a more efficient building.’ So people aren’t just looking at the baseline rent.”

Part of the time was spent shoring up support on multiple fronts, Newsom said.

“Not every loves it, but I think it will be among the most aggressive standards I know of in any city in America,” Newsom said. Similar programs exist in Berkeley, Sonoma County, Palm Desert and Boulder, Colo.

The local branch of the Building Owners and Managers Association, a commercial real estate industry advocacy group, supports the legislation, although there are still skeptics in the business community, the mayor said.

The measure applies only to nonresidential buildings with 5,000 square feet or more of gross area. There are exemptions for buildings less than five years old, those with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification and others.

If approved, the legislation sets a staggered, three-year schedule for compliance, starting in April. Certain property owners could request extensions.